Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Culture’ Category

Nov 20

Meeting up with a friend at Kaffeesiederball in the Vienna Imperial Palace
1 Comment

THINGS TO DO IN VIENNA – WALTZ

Austrians are required to master two skills in life – ski­ing and waltzing. More than 400 balls take place each year in Vienna, and these balls are host to more than 300,000 guests. Balls are sponsored by occupational groups, trade unions, universities, and interest groups — if you’ve got an interest, Vienna’s got the ball.

With Vienna’s long-time love for balls, it’s not surprising that the man responsible for the popularity of the waltz and known during his lifetime as the “The Waltz King,” Johann Strauss II, lived in Vienna. Thankfully, young Johann rebelled against his father’s demands that he become a banker and went on to compose over 500 waltzes, polkas, and quadrilles during his lifetime. At 60 beats per minute, the Viennese Waltz is one of the fastest types of traditional ballroom dance music.

But fast or slow, dancing can be a challenge for those of us who grew up outside Waltzland. Probably during his stint in Vienna, Mark Twain remarked, “Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody is watching.” In other words, take heart and join those Austrians on the dance floor. Even if you don’t know how to 1-2-3, 1-2-3 you can still have a great time with the right attitude. But even Austrians won’t turn a blind eye to one thing that can’t be overlooked for the waltz—and that’s a missing dance partner. Fortunately there’s a fix to that problem as well.

Hallway at Kaffeesiederball during Midnight Show

Hallway at Kaffeesiederball outside main ballroom during the midnight show performance

Taxi Dancer to the rescue! For an hourly fee, you can hire your own personal Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers to help you dance the night away. What first appeared in dance halls in the United States during the early 20th century has gained a revival in Vienna’s ballrooms where the male population can be as depressingly dance-lazy as everywhere else. The Taxi Dancing Darlings are bound by strict codes of behavior but available for all kinds of dance functions. In fact, some of the taxi dancer agen­cies’ best customers are retirement home residents.

My friend and I do a Lifeball selfie

My friend and I at the Lifeball which is sadly postponed a year this season

So no excuses. Put on your dance shoes, and 1-2-3, 1-2-3 the night away.

Post of this year’s ball calendar coming soon…

Share

Nov 16

IMPERIAL VIENNA – Places to Visit in Vienna

It might sound like a bit of a fairy tale that a landlocked nation with a population of just 8.5 million people wedged amid seven other countries was once the heart of an empire so grand that “the sun never set.” It’s been almost a century since the Habsburg’s 640 year rule ended, but remnants of Austria’s multicultural empire linger on and can be readily identified as a heritage that distinguishes Austria from its German-speaking neighbors of Germany and Switzerland.

VIENNA PALACES

One of the most obvious indicators of Austria’s royal past is the collection of palaces in Vienna. The Imperial Palace in Vienna’s first district, the emperor’s summer palace at Schönbrunn, and the two palaces of the Belvedere (the Upper and Lower Palace) serve as just a few of the reminders.

IMPERIAL TREASURY OF VIENNA (SCHATZKAMMER)

Like most royal families, in addition to palaces, the Habsburg liked to collect other treasures. The most impressive of these items can be viewed at the Imperial Treasury of Vienna (Schatzkammer). Besides crown jewels, royal robes, and holy lances, you’ll find vestments of the Golden Fleece. Particularly interesting are Habsburg heirlooms, which were often acquired by knights during the Crusades. Although the unicorn horn displayed might make you wonder if the knights didn’t get a little carried away in their bounty claims. (Franz: If we return empty-handed, the emperor is bound to say no to our next crusade bid and I couldn’t stand another winter of the Missus nagging for me to fix the well. Hans: Fine, then let’s give him this (picks up a stone). We’ll tell him it’s a unicorn horn. I wager that none of his lordship’s relatives in Germany or England can boast a unicorn horn). Ahh, the old “it’s a unicorn horn” trick.

The Holy Cross and the Holy Lance

The Holy Cross and the Holy Lance displayed side by side in the Imperial Treasury

But who amongst us can truly deny the romantic mysticism, ala Dan Brown and Indiana Jones, when up close and personal with age old legends like the Spear of Destiny, and the Holy Grail.

SPANISH RIDING SCHOOL OF VIENNA

And what good is a fancy royal robe and magic sword without a beautiful white horse to show them off on? The Spanish Riding School still shows perfect performances of white Lipizzaner horses selectively bred for centuries. An interesting historical note about these gorgeous creatures is that at the end of WWII, famous American cowboy and soldier, General Patton, rescued them from what may have very well been an abrupt end on Marshal Konev’s dinner table washed down with a shot of vodka.

Wonder the lanes of the first district, and you are bound to easily find hundreds more.

Read about the Lippizaner and General Patton here: http://www.historynet.com/patton-rescues-the-lipizzaner-stallions.htm

Share

Nov 10

Hauntingly accurate portrait by teenage Ernst Fuchs of himself as old man

THE FREEDOM OF ART IS THE ONLY GUARANTEE FOR THE FREEDOM OF HUMANKIND

Art is a metaphor for immortality. – Ernst Fuchs

After 31,315 days on this earth, Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs passed away at the age of 85. Over a year ago, some friends and I visited the Fuchs villa where the artist lived and exhibited his work.

Professor Ernst Fuchs was one of the leading figures in the Viennese School of Painting ”Fantastic realism.“ For him art was more than a way to creatively expressive oneself, it was an essential power of peace and liberation:

Art is, despite its dynamic and that of its supporters’ own egocentricity, always a peacemaking power. We know it, we’ve learned it and from this knowledge we exercise the liberating, the healing power of art. It is exactly for this reason that all craziness has to become art, all politics and every intention that is focused on improving the conditions of human existence, should manifest itself artistically. The only positive revolution that has a chance to permanently liberate humankind and to stimulate is the works of artists. The freedom of art is the only guarantee for the freedom of humankind, this freedom is therefore also the first, which a populace is forced to sacrifice, when a tyrant comes and wants to rule.

Jesus Ernst Fuchs Painting

Jesus Ernst Fuchs Painting

(translation: KC Blau)

German original:
Kunst ist trotz ihrer Dynamik und der ihren Trägern eigenen Egozentrik immer eine Frieden stiftende Kraft. Wir wissen es, wir haben es gelernt und wir praktizieren aus dieser Kenntnis die befreiende, die heilende Kraft der Kunst. Darum muss aller Wahnsinn Kunst

Ernst Fuchs Room in Villa with Paintings and Designs

Ernst Fuchs Room in Villa with Paintings and Designs

werden, alle Politik und jeder Wille, der sich auf die Verbesserung der Daseinsbedingungen des Menschen richtet, sollte kunstvoll sich manifestieren. Die einzig positive Revolution, die eine Chance hat, permanent den Menschen zu befreien und zu befruchten, ist das Wirken der Künstler. Die Freiheit der Kunst ist der einzige Garant der Freiheit des Menschen; diese Freiheit ist daher auch die erste, die ein Volk gezwungen wird aufzugeben, wenn ein Tyrann kommt, es zu beherrschen.

Read more about Ernst Fuchs at my post about a visit to his museum: Are you are Lebenskünstler? Or just a Connoisseur of the Art of Living?

RIP Ernst Fuchs – indeed, art is a metaphor for immortality and you will surely continue on in your art.

Print This Post
Share

Nov 6

PLACES TO VISIT IN VIENNA – COFFEEHOUSES

… occasionally people even drink a coffee in a coffeehouse, but that’s not the reason one goes there. –  H. Weigl, Austrian writer

Vienna and her coffeehouses are inseparable. At the turn of the century, Vienna boasted over 600 coffeehouses catering to every profession, social class, and mood. Then, as today, writers, business people, students, artists, intellectuals and international guests have come to treasu­re their time “alone in the company of others.” One Austrian poet in the early 1900s felt so at home in his Stammcafe that he used Café Central as his return address. You’ll find Herr Altenberg sitting there still, opinion-loaded and inspiration-ready at his Stammtisch directly inside the brass doors of the marble-pillared historical gem.

cafecentral_zeitung

Große Brauner in Cafe Central

But perhaps you’d prefer something more 50s style like the favored café of Thomas Bernhard (Bräunerhof)? Or maybe you’d like to contemplate dreams and the subconscious along with the memory of Sigmund Freud (Café Landtmann)? Coffeehouses vary in atmosphere and offerings. Some will have chess, piano accompaniment, or singers, some not. But no matter what coffeehouse you choose, all of them will have great coffee.

You will be able to choose from a long list of cof­fees, and we’re not talking regular or vanilla-flavored. Your coffee will usually come served on a silver platter with a cup of water on the side and usually – though not always – the spoon delicately balanced atop the glass. Newspapers from around the world will be hanging on a newspaper rack, available for your perusal. In attempt to guarantee your time is undisturbed, the server will skillfully ignore you and refrain from slapping down your check until you kindly request he or she do so.

cafemuseum

Einspanner in Cafe Museum

In today’s world of multitasking, need-it-yesterday, working-against-the-clock, don‘t you think you deserve some balm for the soul? Allow a black coat-and-tails waiter to serve up a Mélange and afford you a few glorious hours to sit back and smell the coffee.

Can’t go to the coffeehouse? Then bring a little coffeehouse home to you – Apple Strudel recipe: https://www.kcblau.com/apfelstrudel/

Read More here:

This post gives a list of coffeehouses and quotes about coffeehouses from famous Austrians: https://www.kcblau.com/coffeehouses/

 

Share
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »